WWE Royal Rumble: Shockers and Locks for Each Battle

After roughly six weeks of what I would call lackluster build, we're just two days away from one of the biggest WWE pay-per-views of the year, the Royal Rumble.

Only three championship matches and the first-ever 40-Man Royal Rumble Match have been announced so far.

Is it possible we'll see another match—maybe a WWE Tag Team Championship Match—added to the card? 

Probably so. But with the WWE roster thinner than a toothpick, I'm not sure it's even possible.

Either way, I'm excited to see the show and what could happen at one of WWE's "Big Four" pay-per-views.

In fact, the show has the potential to do the unthinkable and actually surprise us!

Well, here's how I would book the entire Royal Rumble pay-per-view to make the unexpected come to life.

Creative team, look out. I'm coming for your jobs. 

10. Awesome Kong Debuts During LayCool Vs. Natalya

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Awesome Kong (or simply "Kong") is expected to make her WWE debut at the Royal Rumble.

Knowing crazy old Vince McMahon, he'll probably put her in the Royal Rumble and have her eliminate The Great Khali after making out with him.

DON'T DO IT, VINCE!

Instead, after Natalya retains her Divas Championship against LayCool in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match, book Kong to walk slowly down to the ring and hit Natalya with the Awesome Bomb or Implant Buster.

As Layla and Michelle McCool look on, we will assume that Kong has aligned herself with LayCool.

But no! The creative team realizes LayCool is far too annoying for another push, and instead, Kong takes out Layla and Michelle as well.

As the three women are laid out in the ring, out comes Beth Phoenix—a little late for her friend Natalya, huh?—for a staredown with Kong before Kong backs off.

This sets up a mini-feud between Natalya and Kong before a huge triple threat match at Wrestlemania between Beth, Natalya and Kong for the Divas title. 

9. Edge Defeats Dolph Ziggler With the Help of an Unidentified Assailant

At the beginning of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Teddy Long comes out and announces that he is back at full force as the general manager of Smackdown, and Vickie Guerrero is banned from ringside during the World Heavyweight Championship match. 

Now, I'm hitting the mythical DVR and fast forwarding to the actual title match between Edge and Dolph Ziggler.

After about 20 minutes of great back and forth action, an unidentified, masked man appears on the apron and distracts both Ziggler and the referee. 

As the masked man drops down from the ring, the ref throws him out of the arena while Edge looks confused.

As the ref's doing that, Ziggler turns around and gets blasted with a huge spear that goes unseen by the man in black and white.

Ziggler hits the canvas, then Edge pins him for the 1-2-3.

The Ultimate Opportunist celebrates with the World Heavyweight Championship as we move on to the next match. 

8. The Miz Beats Randy Orton Clean To Retain the WWE Championship

Remember when Jack Swagger was the World Heavyweight Champion?

It literally seemed like the creative team booked this guy on a piece of toilet paper and then threw it away.

Now, The Miz does have a clean win over John Morrison to his credit, but he's also lost to Jerry Lawler.

If the WWE wants to build more momentum for Miz, he needs a clean win over one of the WWE's top dogs.

Someone like Randy Orton.

I know that Orton is protected more than President Obama himself with the way he's booked, but he's one of the few guys who can actually lose clean and then rebound from it.

At the Royal Rumble, I'd have these two battle back and forth in a 15-20 minute match that doesn't end because Alex Riley gets involved.

Simply put, have Miz finagle his way out of the RKO before hitting Orton with the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.

The booking is as simple as John Cena's moveset, but it will do wonders for Miz's credibility. 

7. The Final Eight Competitors

Here's who I would have as the final six competitors in the 40-Man Royal Rumble match and why:

John Cena: As much as a lot of people don't want to see him win, he's going to keep the crowd in the match more than any other wrestler.

CM Punk: To add even more intrigue to his feud with Cena.

Wade Barrett: All the tension between Barrett (and the Corre), Cena and Punk (and the Nexus) is just waiting to explode.

Ezekiel Jackson: To give Barrett more of an advantage in the match.

Mason Ryan: To give Punk an equalizer to Jackson.

John Morrison: To give this man some credibility and prove he belongs with Punk and Cena.

Alberto Del Rio: He's been pushed like he has for a reason, and he'll be there at the end.

Christian: To keep the older fans pleased about a potential Edge-Christian feud.

6. Have John Morrison Enter First and Last Longer Than Any Other Wrestler

With the WWE's recent focus on John Morrison's parkour style, he's been built up as a guy with a lot of athleticism, strength and stamina.

Why not focus on that in the Royal Rumble match?

Morrison doesn't even need to win, but he should enter the match first overall and show off those incredible attributes that I mentioned.

I'd have Morrison start the match off against someone like Daniel Bryan and put on a wrestling clinic until another wrestler comes in.

Then, I'd have Morrison consistently pull off impressive moves throughout the course of the match until he reaches the final eight competitors.

Because if you're not first, you're last.

In all seriousness, though. having Morrison break Rey Mysterio's record for the most time spent in a single Rumble match would really help develop Morrison's character. 

5. Triple H Returns To Eliminate Sheamus

Look, sometimes things are just too easy to book, like the storyline between Sheamus and Triple H.

I mean, anyone above the age of 12 knows how this should go down.

Triple H should return during the Royal Rumble match—maybe at No. 15 or so (and just a few spots after Sheamus)—and the King of Kings should eliminate the King of the Ring rather quickly.

Of course, Sheamus' face will return red (if that's possible) as he screams like a maniac when he's eliminated by The Game.

The crowd will love it, and it sets up a Triple H-Sheamus grudge match for Wrestlemania 27. 

4. Have Alberto Del Rio Eliminate the Most Participants

Alberto Del Rio is the midst of a mega-push, and I personally love it.

His facial expressions are nearly unparalleled in the business, and few wrestlers have been able generate so much heat less than a year after their debut WWE.

As of right now, ADR appears to be a Rumble favorite. But you already know that.

So while my booking doesn't have Del Rio winning the Rumble match, it does have him eliminating the most competitors.

How many? Let's go with 8-10.

Why? Because it's his destiny. 

3. Evan Bourne Returns To Eliminate Members of Nexus

As the storyline goes, CM Punk is the one who put Evan Bourne on the sidelines.

Well, the WWE reportedly has "big plans" for his return, and those plans actually include Punk.

Again, most of the work has been done for me here, but even Michael Cole's piece of paper that pretends like it's the anonymous GM (and a computer for that matter) can tell you that logical booking says "eliminate the guy who injured you."

That formula applies here, although to a lesser extent.

I'd have Bourne fail to eliminate Punk, but I'd also have him eliminate some combination of David Otunga, Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty. 

Hell, throw 'em all over the top rope for all I care.

2. Have Chris Jericho Return and Eliminate Randy Orton

I know what you're thinking: Randy Orton isn't scheduled to participate in the Royal Rumble Match.

But considering that the company doesn't even have 40 worthy wrestlers to put in the bout, I'd say the addition of Orton is a logical choice here.

And of course, I would have him eliminated by none other than a returning Chris Jericho.

For those that don't remember, the last time Jericho was seen in a WWE ring he received an NFL-caliber punt to the head from Orton.

By having Y2J return and eliminate Orton, this would set up another Wrestlemania 27 match, one that could be a huge draw.

Come on, you know you wanna see The Viper take on The Ayatollah.  

1. Have Christian Return and Win the Royal Rumble

Remember the masked man who helped Edge retain the World Heavyweight title?

Well, that was none other than his brother—or apparently his friend now—Christian.

Captain Charisma helped Edge only so that The Rated R Superstar could remain champion, he could win the Royal Rumble and the two could face each other for the strap at Wrestlemania.

Vince McMahon will never do this.

But I'm the creative team here, and what I say...goes.